Tales from the Red Envelope
"The Pink Panther" (Shawn Levy, 2005) I've always been a big fan of the Blake Edwards' "Panther" films (until they became out-take reels, anyway), so when I heard of a new version with Mike Meyers as Clouseau, I didn't give it much of a chance. When Steve Martin signed on to take the role Peter Sellers made famous (and has been briefly taken over or supplanted by, respectively, Alan Arkin, Ted Wass, and Roberto Benigni) I gave it even less of a chance. The result...is not too terribly bad. Martin doesn't so much copy Seller's Clouseau, as spoof David Suchet's Hercule Poirot. His Clouseau is still informed of ego and little else, and is blithely unaware of what a prat he really is. Martin resists the urge to play it more broadly (which is his weakness), and if he doesn't have Sellers' innate ability to take things in a perversely savage manner, he does manage to keep the comedy up and the timing semi-precise (he's aided immeasurably by a bit too aggressive sound-design). One also has to credit the writers and Levy for matching Blake Edwards' ability to make a joke out of taking a small inconsequential act and turning it into a disaster. There is a terrific Edwards-ian gag involving a large globe (but NOT having Clouseau catch his finger in it as it spins) that builds quite precisely and would fit just as well into a silent film, which is from where the physical comedy of the "Panther" films sprang, and did a prat-fall. There are big changes. No Cato, though the gag is kept. Closeau still has a deadpan assistant (though now it's Jean Reno, whose potential is a bit wasted). And the plot is a combination "Pink Panther" and "A Shot in the Dark," although Beyoncé does not show as much screen-potential as Elke Sommer (that's one of those things you think you'd never write!) Someday Beyoncé may find a vehicle for her talents, but right now she's a bit behind Mariah Carey in the "Diva Most Likely Not To..." category (Somebody's going to have to overcome "The Curse of Diana Ross!"). And nobody can replace Henry Mancini, so Christopher Beck (who scored a lot of "Buffy") doesn't even try to match the sophistication. Michael Giacchino would be a better choice. And Kevin Kline feels a bit...restrained as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, though why no one thought of casting HIM as Clouseau is beyond me."Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Mike Newell, 2005) 
Year Four at Hogwarts, and Harry must learn that he can not stop death, that at times he must stand alone, trust his friends, and though he may be a natural at magic, it can't keep him from acting like a stupid muggle in front of girls. Oh, and (He Who Must Not Be Named) comes back. That's big. Who's new? Lots of kids (Hogwarts is visited by exchange students from France (girls) and some teutonic country (boys), Miranda Richardson as The Daily Prophet's gossipy-pain-in-the-neck Rita Skeeter, Brendan Gleeson (marvelous) as "Mad Eye" Moody, and Ralph Fiennes, chewing as much CGI scenery as possible as HWMNBN--Fiennes clearly relishes the role. At this stage of development, all the regulars are at the heighth of awkwardness, looking slovenly and disheveled, and just a bit homely. Harry must participate in a prom as well as the Tri-Wizard's Something-Or-Other, and one had best place their bets on Harry on the latter (in the former he's a complete wash-out). Director Mike Newell bustles things along and tries to put eveything in at the cost of giving A Big Important Event For Harry (and the emotional high-point of the film) a little too little background to make us care. The films are getting darker, both in subject matter--but also in lighting, the beginning of the film is nearly indecipherable without one of those divining maps from Part Three, "Harry Potter and the Rather Inocuous Magical Prop" (that was the name of it, wasn't it?).
Year Four at Hogwarts, and Harry must learn that he can not stop death, that at times he must stand alone, trust his friends, and though he may be a natural at magic, it can't keep him from acting like a stupid muggle in front of girls. Oh, and (He Who Must Not Be Named) comes back. That's big. Who's new? Lots of kids (Hogwarts is visited by exchange students from France (girls) and some teutonic country (boys), Miranda Richardson as The Daily Prophet's gossipy-pain-in-the-neck Rita Skeeter, Brendan Gleeson (marvelous) as "Mad Eye" Moody, and Ralph Fiennes, chewing as much CGI scenery as possible as HWMNBN--Fiennes clearly relishes the role. At this stage of development, all the regulars are at the heighth of awkwardness, looking slovenly and disheveled, and just a bit homely. Harry must participate in a prom as well as the Tri-Wizard's Something-Or-Other, and one had best place their bets on Harry on the latter (in the former he's a complete wash-out). Director Mike Newell bustles things along and tries to put eveything in at the cost of giving A Big Important Event For Harry (and the emotional high-point of the film) a little too little background to make us care. The films are getting darker, both in subject matter--but also in lighting, the beginning of the film is nearly indecipherable without one of those divining maps from Part Three, "Harry Potter and the Rather Inocuous Magical Prop" (that was the name of it, wasn't it?)."Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
" (Alex Gibney, 2005) This "buy the book" documentary scrupulously tells the unscrupulous story of Enron, the energy-trading company whose fall was so huge it sucked down the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, as well as the pensions and retirement accounts of its employees. At the eye of the "Big Suck" was a triumvirate of robber-barons with grandiose schemes on how to shuffle energy it didn't have, and what energy it did have was used to "cook the books." Those smartest guys are now infamous--Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Andy Fastow. They began as all fortunes do--they came up with an idea no one else had. Deficit Financing--don't get rich making a profit, get rich saying you're going to make a profit. And when you don't, offset the loss with dummy corporations set up solely to take the hit. And in this shell-game where money is a concept more than a commodity, the longer you can keep the plates spinning on the sticks, the more successful you might become. You just have to know when the plates begin to fall, then cash in. The film-makers have access to company films, P.R. pieces, and, most damning of all, the ribald voice recordings of the taders on the floor, famously yukking it up about gramma freezing in California. Skilling and Lay built up a cult of personality that gives them access to powerful friends who can manipulate the market to their advantage, delay investigations, and blue-sky security ratings (The speculation is that Lay helped formulate the Bush Energy Policy, which is why Dick Cheney has fought so strenuously to keep the names secret). The hubris becomes so great that soon they think they can sell a sunny day--tape recordings have company officials speculating on selling "weather futures." There is a damning wealth of information provided on the durth of anything approaching ethics and the depths to which the greedy can sink. One wonders if there's something deeper about Enron's company slogan: "Ask why."
" (Alex Gibney, 2005) This "buy the book" documentary scrupulously tells the unscrupulous story of Enron, the energy-trading company whose fall was so huge it sucked down the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, as well as the pensions and retirement accounts of its employees. At the eye of the "Big Suck" was a triumvirate of robber-barons with grandiose schemes on how to shuffle energy it didn't have, and what energy it did have was used to "cook the books." Those smartest guys are now infamous--Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Andy Fastow. They began as all fortunes do--they came up with an idea no one else had. Deficit Financing--don't get rich making a profit, get rich saying you're going to make a profit. And when you don't, offset the loss with dummy corporations set up solely to take the hit. And in this shell-game where money is a concept more than a commodity, the longer you can keep the plates spinning on the sticks, the more successful you might become. You just have to know when the plates begin to fall, then cash in. The film-makers have access to company films, P.R. pieces, and, most damning of all, the ribald voice recordings of the taders on the floor, famously yukking it up about gramma freezing in California. Skilling and Lay built up a cult of personality that gives them access to powerful friends who can manipulate the market to their advantage, delay investigations, and blue-sky security ratings (The speculation is that Lay helped formulate the Bush Energy Policy, which is why Dick Cheney has fought so strenuously to keep the names secret). The hubris becomes so great that soon they think they can sell a sunny day--tape recordings have company officials speculating on selling "weather futures." There is a damning wealth of information provided on the durth of anything approaching ethics and the depths to which the greedy can sink. One wonders if there's something deeper about Enron's company slogan: "Ask why." 
"The Score" (Frank Oz, 2001) It's notable for being the last movie Marlon Brando was in, and his presence is probably why DeNiro and Norton and Bassett signed on, because, really, this is no great shakes as a film. It's a simple "heist movie," with some interesting switch-backs along the way, which works as an effective metaphor for a bunch of people generating a paycheck for themselves. But if you expect to see sparks fly between DeNiro and Brando (The Two Don Vito Corleones) the way they did between Pacino and DeNiro in "Heat," you're going to very disappointed. Bassett is completely wasted in the movie as "The Girlfriend," and Norton pulls off one of his "so-good-it's-scary" impersonations, this time as a retarded kid, which borders on the cruel. No, the only sparks are the ones that happened between Brando and director Oz. Brando didn't like the way he was being directed, so he decided he'd play games calling Oz "Miss Piggy" (of course, Oz played her in "The Muppets") It's just another indication of how far Brando was slipping--a perpetual jokester and lover of comedy, he couldn't even be charitable acknowledging Oz's gifts as a performer. "The Score" is not a great indicator of anyone's work (except the cinematographer's), but it's a shame that Brando went out on this one. "God Grew Tired of Us" (Christopher Dillon Quinn, 2006) An amazing documentary (which won both major Documentary Prizes at 
the 2006 Sundance Festival)that has a lot of godfathers* and a long history. "God Grew Tired of Us" tells the story of "The Lost Boys of the Sudan," 27,000 refugees who fled the Sudanese Civil War and made their way by foot to Ethiopia and then to Kenya. 10,000 survived the trip across the desert. After education in a refugee camp, the oldest of the young men get the opportunity from the International Rescue Committee and the to travel to other countries--3800 live in the U.S. The film concentrates on three of them-Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, and Daniel Abol Pach as they adjust to life in America, fight loneliness and isolation, and achieve personal goals of jobs, finding surviving family and forming their own charity and help organization to help their fellow countrymen, in the U.S. and at home. There must have been warehouses of material to choose from because it covers a lot of ground over many years. That the film is so powerful and an inspiration is a testament to all those in front and behind the camera.
* The financiers are NewMarket Films, Silver Nitrate and National Geographic. The film was shepherded by Brad Pitt, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Mike Myers and the dispassionate narration provided by Nicole Kidman.
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